Surgeon&#39;s needle-holder.



No. 862,619. PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

G. DRIEST.

SURGEONS NEEDLE HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1907.

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CHARLES DRIEST, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SURGEONS NEEDLE-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application filed April 6, 1907. Serial 366,672,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES DRIEST, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgeons Needle-Holders, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to needle holders used by surgeons in sewing up cuts or other wounds, and the object thereof is to provide an improvement in needle holders of this class by means of which the needle may be conveniently turned into any desired position and thus manipulated so as to facilitate the use thereof.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure l is a side view of a well known form of needle holder provided with my improvement; Fig. 2 a longitudinal section through the jaws of the needle on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3; and, Fig. 3 an inside view of one of the jaws of the needle holder and showing the method of manipulating the holder so as to adjust the needle to any desired position.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, I have shown at a a well known form of surgeons needle holder which comprises two jaws a and a having shanks a which cross each other in a manner similar to the blades of a pair of shears and are detachably and pivotally connected at a and provided with handle members a between which is placed a spring a secured to one of said members and detachably connected with the other, and the ends of the handle members a are inwardly directed as shown at a and one of said ends is provided with ratchet teeth a", and the other with a corresponding tooth a adapted to operate in connection with the teeth a.

In the practice of my invention, I mount in the inner face of one of the jaws of the needle holder, the jaw a as shown in the drawing, a rotatable headed plug 1) which is countersunk in said jaw and provided witha central longitudinal bore b and a reduced neck portion 1) into which is passed from the outside of the jaw a screw 0.

The rotatable plug b is provided in its inner face with a transverse recess 5 the opposite sides of which are preferably deeper than the central portion, and the jaw a is provided in its inner face with a deep annular groove d forming a central projecting knob d which projects inwardly of the inner face of the jaw a and the end of which is beveled or spherical in form. I have also shown at c an ordinary form of surgeons needle and, in practice, the ends of the handle members a being disconnected, the needle e is placed transversely in the recess 1)" in the plug 1) and in one of the deeper side portions thereof, after which the jaws a and a are forced together by applying pressure to the handle members a in the usual manner and this forces the knob (Z into the recess in the plug I) and securely clamps the needle in position as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing the needle is shown as ranging transversely across the jaws a and a at a right angle to the handle members a, but by forcing the handle members a together the ratchet teeth It on the end portion of one of said handle members will pass over the inner tooth o of the other, and the handle members will be disconnected and the needle may be adjusted into any desired position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 by simply turning the plug b and again forcing the jaw members a and (1" together, in which operation the tooth a engages with one of the teeth a and locks said jaws in the closed position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. f

It will be understood, of course, that any size of nee dle e may be employed and as a large variety of needles of this class are used it is necessary to adopt the device to such use, and when a small needle is used the rim portion of the plug 1) will enter the annular groove (1 in the jaw (1 but if a large needle is used the rim portion of the plug 5 will not enter said groove.

Although, I have described the recess b in the head of the plug 12 as deeper at the opposite sides of said recess than at the central portion thereof, it will be apparent that this particular form of construction is not absolutely necessary as in many cases the knob or head (1 will serve to hold a needle of the class described in the recess 1) if the opposite sides of said recess are not deeper than the central portion thereof.

By my improvement, I provide a simple and effective construction by means of which the needle may be adjusted to any desired position so as to facilitate the use thereof by either hand and also to facilitate said use in any possible position. i

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A needle holder of the class described, one of the jaws of which is provided in its inner face with a rotatable headed plug having a transverse recess adapted to receive a needle placed therein transversely of said plug and of said jaw, the other jaw being provided with a knob adapt ed to enter the recess in said plug.

2. A needle holder of the class described, one of the jaws of which is provided in its inner face with a trans verse recess the opposite sides of which are deeper than the central portion thereof, the other jaw being provided with a projecting knob adapted to enter said recess.

A needle holder of the class described, one of the jaws of which is provided in its inner face with a transverse recess the opposite sides of which are deeper than the central portion thereof, the other jaw being provided with a projecting knob adapted to enter said recess, and

around which is an annular groove adapted to receive the 10 rim portion of said plug.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I hate signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 3rd day of April 1907.

CHARLES DRIEST.

Witnesses:

C. E. 'MULREANY, A. WonDnN GIBBS. 

